Today's Advice
by Chibi-Anon
Summary: In order to rebuild the Chiba's business empire, Mamoru is sent off to the Tsukino family to marry the willful Usagi Tsukino. However, things don't seem to be going as planned.


Title: Today's Advice  
  
Chapter: Prologue~Meeting the Enemy  
  
By: Chibi-Anon  
  
E-mail: purechibimoonlight@yahoo.com  
  
Genre: Alternate Reality/Romance  
  
Date: August 7, 2003  
  
Ready for Mamo Day-Week!!  
  
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Disclaimer: Chibi no ownie Sailor Moonie :p translation... get off  
  
my case!!   
  
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Today's Advice: The only safe and sure way to destroy an enemy is  
  
to make him your friend. -Anon.  
  
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Surely fate had dealt me a fool's hand: to befriend an enemy  
  
was unheard of. It almost seemed as if the Heavens mocked me. For  
  
any of the Chiba family to befriend an ancient enemy, even under false  
  
pretenses would besmirch our family honor. Yet, even as I thought  
  
these thoughts I was to be sold to the enemy, the Tsukinos. Long ago  
  
a dispute had broken out between the Tsukinos and the Chibas. These  
  
days no one knows what had sparked such hatred between the two   
  
families, only that we had been betrayed. As much as I loved my   
  
family, it is hard to see them groveling to our enemies. I, Mamoru  
  
Chiba was to be taken to the Tsukino residence to 'mend bridges' as  
  
one may put it and merge our holdings through the sanctity of marriage.  
  
To the unsuspecting Tsukinos I must confess that I regret having to  
  
deceive them thus. The Chibas invested in bad business and are   
  
currently as rich as paupers mildly speaking. This merger is only  
  
taking place so that we may climb the ladder to fortune once more.  
  
Where this road would lead me, I wasn't quite sure, but I would  
  
do my best as circumstances allowed. Even as I told myself that  
  
the situation wasn't as lamentable as it seemed, seeing the Tsukino  
  
estate up close caused me to swallow deeply. It is an odd thing to  
  
find one's self staring at a building almost identical to your  
  
own home. For a moment, I believed myself to be arriving at the Chiba  
  
family estate. Taking a second look I knew I wasn't back home, but  
  
at the Tsukino's. Rather than looking in the easterly direction, it  
  
faced west. The insignia above the portal featured celestial images  
  
surrounding the crescent moon, while the insignia in the Chiba residence  
  
centered around an image of the earth. To say the least, even if I  
  
didn't enjoy my life with the Tsukinos, things would prove to be very  
  
interesting.  
  
As for their daughter, Usagi Tsukino, her uncouth ways were a legend  
  
among the gentry. Tales were told among my friends of how she would  
  
stay out late at night and watch the stars and moon rise, even during  
  
the winter season. To me it seemed as if she awaited a lover that would  
  
never return to her side. When Lady Uriko visited her home, Usagi  
  
was in the process of throwing out an unfortunate maid who had crossed  
  
her path that morning. She was a force to be reckoned with and would  
  
not take kindly to an intruder in her home, namely me. There seemed  
  
no logical reason as to why her parents allowed her to roam the country-  
  
side visiting the lower classes and getting up to who knows what kind of  
  
mischief. Somehow, I would endure my marriage to her...somehow.  
  
Within ten minutes of my arrival, I was bombarded by a flock of   
  
servants grabbing at my bags and jacket. Hastily, I grabbed my jacket   
  
back and put it back on. NO ONE touches Mamoru Chiba's jacket, no one.  
  
"Mr. Chiba!" Exclaimed the servant that had tried to steal away my  
  
jacket.  
  
"What do you want!? I don't have time for servants right now, go   
  
fetch your mistress and keep your filthy hands away from my person."  
  
"Excuse me? I'm not fetching myself anywhere. I try to show you a   
  
bit of hospitality, and here I am getting yelled at!"  
  
Under other circumstances, I would have swept her off her feet and   
  
tried to make amends. However, the sudden realization that I was face to  
  
face with Usagi Tsukino, my intended made me lose my nerve. Suddenly, I   
  
started making an even larger twit of my self.  
  
"I should have known. You're dressed up like a servant. Muddied from  
  
head to toe...You're not a lady at all... Rather, you look like a boy trying  
  
to be a girl."  
  
"Well, you could have fooled me, you don't act like a gentleman. You  
  
do remind me of a drowned rat, though." She spoke to me with so much venom  
  
behind her words, I might have collapsed then and there.  
  
This was my first encounter with the renowned Usagi Tsukino. If I  
  
could have helped it, I would ensure it would be my last. Unfortunately,  
  
fate had another card up her sleeve. The master of the house, Kenji Tsuki-  
  
no and his wife, Ikuko Tsukino chose to enter the room at that moment. My  
  
heart stopped in its tracks when I saw them, these were more of the Tsukino  
  
ilk that I had been taught to hate from day one. I'm also sure that in  
  
their minds they too wanted to be rid of me. However, this truce between  
  
us would be broken, and the long sought after merger would fall to pieces.  
  
They had the resources, we, the name. It would be a marriage of convenience.  
  
Little did they know that their resources would become ours, and ours alone.  
  
"Usagi? Why don't you show your fiancé to his rooms?" Suggested Kenji,  
  
"And dear, please lead him to the RIGHT room." Obviously, the daughter was  
  
much like the father. He stared at me with cold eyes that seemed to be  
  
throwing darts at my head.  
  
"Nice meeting you, Chiba-san." His wife said with a bright smile. I had  
  
almost forgotten that she wasn't a true Tsukino, only in name. Perhaps she  
  
would be my only ally in this world of hate. I smiled at her and bowed my  
  
head at them.  
  
"It is my pleasure, madam." Carefully, I watched Kenji as I took his  
  
wife's hand and placed a kiss on it, gently. His eyes registered nothing  
  
but pure hate. Ikuko giggled, withdrew her hand hastily and smacked me on  
  
the head lightly with her fan. "I expect you to woo my daughter, not me."  
  
"Ah, but it is hard not to show gratitude to the woman who brought out  
  
the beauty in her offspring." I wasn't called the charmer of my family for  
  
nothing. When need be, I can be the most wonderful of gentlemen.  
  
Usagi coughed in disgust and turned around. "If you want to be shown to  
  
your rooms, you had better come with me now."  
  
"Take care and rest, Chiba-san." Ikuko said as I climbed the stairs with  
  
Usagi.  
  
If I had turned around I'm sure that I would have seen Kenji Tsukino ready  
  
to challenge me to a duel or worse.  
  
"Here's your room, enjoy." Usagi said monotonously, crossing across the   
  
room, she opened a door and entered it. Without thinking, I followed her  
  
and found myself in a different atmosphere. The colors were lighter, and the  
  
furnishings were very feminine. Also, there was another bed there. If I  
  
didn't know any better, I would have sworn that it was someone else's room I  
  
had walked into.  
  
"What's this? This can't be my room.... it's got too many womanly things  
  
here, is this a joke!?"  
  
"That's because it's my room, now get out of it." She pushed me back into  
  
the first room and slammed the door in my face. I stood there agape as she  
  
turned the lock to her room.  
  
"You won't be able to open that door. If you try, you'll only injure  
  
yourself. I'm the only one with a key, so don't even think about it. Good  
  
day, Chiba-san!" From the noises coming from her room, I knew she was throwing  
  
a tantrum. A crash told me that she had smashed something breakable, albeit,  
  
valuable too. That girl had no self-control.  
  
Sighing to myself, I settled onto the bed. By the side of the bed, I  
  
could see that my bags had been brought up, along with a warm meal. Testing   
  
it, I wondered if it could possibly be poisoned. I wouldn't put it past Usagi   
  
or her father to try to kill me. Then again, killing me now wouldn't   
  
accomplish anything. I would only be valuable after Usagi and I wed. Even   
  
then, I didn't intend to stick around long enough to find out whether I'd be   
  
used for target practice. The wedding was only a month away, I wondered   
  
whether I'd survive that long here. Although I had just had the 'pleasure'  
  
of meeting Usagi-san, and did not want another encounter such as earlier, I  
  
resolved myself into at least pretend to like her and be 'slightly' charming.  
  
Enough so, that it would make living with her bearable. Still, something in  
  
the back of my mind told me that neither of us would be civil to one another  
  
for along time yet, let alone yearn for one another's company. 


End file.
